this interesting piece is from www.pcmusic.co.za, a south african site. South Africa has always had a very rich underground scene and i found this very interesting reading so i've pasted it here for you all


The scene is dead, lone live the scene

Worried frowns, stomach ulcers and rapidly diminishing bank balances are the current order of the day for the movers and shakers who make the local dance scene tick. Attendances at dance culture events have been falling steadily over the last year or two and even some of the top international DJ's and producers have failed to pull the massive crowds that were seemingly guaranteed not too long ago. As one would expect, there are literally hundreds of different theories doing the rounds to explain this new phenomenon and while some have a twisted kind of merit to them, the majority are clearly the product of overactive and hideously abused imaginations.

Despite the fact that I am often accused of having the memory capacity of a retarded goldfish I do still clearly remember a large chunk of the last 12 years in the happy bosom of dance culture, large breasted redheads and mind-bending...er…energy drinks. When I made the metamorphosis from sinister gothic punk outcast to neon-spandex rave bunny back in 1990 the word "rave" still meant to talk enthusiastically about something and a "glow stick" was used by law enforcement officials to direct traffic. Back in those heady days the Johannesburg scene was a wildly hedonistic underground, secretive society but even then there were discontented grumblings from the grizzled veterans claiming that it was all becoming far too commercial and popular. Little did those early pioneers realize that within a few years the dance scene culture would reach the point where it became so mainstream that it made Cliff Richard look like a rabid anti-establishment fiend.

This evolution from counter-culture to mainstream leisure pursuit had an obvious and necessary impact on the burgeoning dance scene. As the number of punters happy to splash out their hard-earned cash on a rave party grew, the scene began to attract the attention of the profit-driven corporate scavengers. With one eye on their bottom line and the other on any half-decent marketing opportunity they quickly insinuated themselves into the culture and instilled the traditional corporate values of "bigger is better". The days of the mass appeal raves were quickly upon us and it was not unusual to find yourself doing a creditable impression of a suffocating sardine with 15000 other virtually immobile punters. This was not inherently a bad thing as the demand for sardine-in-a-can raves obviously existed and the corporate involvement ensured that there were proper facilities, security, emergency personnel and so on. What had been an underground, drug-fuelled orgy of cutting edge music and spandex-clad heavenly bodies quickly became an experiment in regimental mediocrity that found favour with the global youth culture and took off like a rocket.

But just as the dance scene's rise to prominence was as inevitable as weekly Western Cape political scandals once the corporates were involved, so its fall from graced was also virtually preordained. Corporate blandness and the arrival of the masses smothered the initial counter-culture spirit of the dance movement but did give it the momentum that took it to the pinnacle of cultural prominence.

It was clear to all the old-timer pioneers that this new found prominence was unsustainable because the soul of the culture had become embossed with so many corporate logos that the original ideals of P.L.U.R. were totally obliterated (P.L.U.R for those of you who - God help us all - don't know what it means is Peace, Love, Unity, Respect!!!!!). The very thing that had given the dance culture its unique feel and attraction was as dead as a crippled goat in a hungry lion's den.

On top of the scene's crass-commercialism and lack of soul there are other problems making the situation worse. The thousands of punters who flocked to the rave scene in the late nineties started growing up into respectable adults with marriages, children and well-paying corporate jobs (ironic….ain't it!) and have become more video and braaivlies types rather than getting-off-their-heads on a weekend material. The next generation of hedonists that should have topped up the raving ranks began looking for their kicks in a less corporate branded environment, leaving the dance culture reeling under the pressure of its own previously massive success. But, before you all start reaching for the razor blades, hangman's noose or trusty old sleeping pills in a Steve Blues induced fit of terminal depression I think it is appropriate for me to now state that all is not lost.

As the natural evolutionary process continues in the local dance scene there is a ray of hope beginning to peak over the commercial horizon. It has been a long, terrible winter of discontent since I have felt that words like "innovative", "original", "fresh", "interesting" and "exciting" could be used in relation to the dance scene but a new breed of DJ's, producers, clubs and event companies are shoving all the previously imposed parameters where the corporate sun don't shine. With incredible new technological developments at their fingertips and a healthy disregard for current convention they are creating a brand new vision of P.L.U.R. In dodgy basements, word-of-mouth private parties and little known clubs there is a new, creative, non-conformist spirit beginning to emerge. This embryonic spirit is developing away from the pressures of profit margins and tailor-made marketing strategies, slowly gaining strength and purpose, just waiting until it has enough energy and momentum to infuse the commercial scene with a second shot at party nirvana. But, until then, I really don't mind hearing stressed corporate executives wondering where all their party profit margins have gone. I know where to find the real deal and by God it was worth the wait!

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